i know nothing about tablets, help me out kthx

depends on the primary function of the tablet....

I know of only two multi touch Tablet's...Hp 2z and Dell latitude. Both are only 12" screens. I played with a friend's, and multi touch on the Dell is best, but if you're gonna' work with it, then it's not all that useful.

You can use your finger to activate and tap and double tap icons, and move stuff around on just about any Tablet that has a resistive screen. I have a Tosh R15, about 4 years old, that I use my fingers (and fingernails, too-lol) on the screen.

The real problem is MS. They screwed the pooch and charged the OEM's way too much for Tab PC OS in addition to the XP it lays on, and they just didn't sell at those prices. Now, they're almost gone.

I threw Win7 on my Tosh, and everything works just fine, except for some of Tosh's proprietary apps, which I had always disabled anyway. Anywho, it actually uses less ram and has less processes running than the original Tab PC OS from Tosh.

Right now I'm dual booting with Win7 RC and Ubuntu Karmic Alpha. Damn, I love Karmic. Smooth, and the new ext4 fs is blazing fast. Just wished they had stable handwriting apps and a OneNote clone for Linux out, I'd be a single booter tomorrow. Not that Win7 is bad, it's not, I like it very much, I just prefer Linux and Ubuntu in particular.

Oh, I almost forgot to include the obligatory "Vista SUCKS!", and everyone who bought a PC with it should get a free upgrade to Win7! (I feel better now )

Why buy a tablet?

Because, normally, Humans can write faster than type. A Tablet with handwriting recognition will convert your handwriting into typed text.

Because drawing is easier and better using a stylus than a keyboard.

Because a Tablet with a resistive screen will respond to your finger or your stylus in the same way as it would if you clicked with your mouse.

Because you can write on top of a document, sign your name to, say, a sales agreement or email, to make changes, highlights, or annotations.

For example, I'm an Real Estate Appraiser. I can walk along and check off items, and write my comments, and draw dimensions as I go. I can also draw my property outline or sketch, or I can surf and find the Google or Bing photo online, select it, and attach it to the appraisal.

And, BTW, OneNote, a Tablet PC application includes a math calculator, ships with Tablet PC's. Simple math, Algebra, Trigonometry, no problem. Write it out on the screen, or create a macro or use a plug in. I use a plug in called Equation creator to compute complex area calculations. It takes about 2 seconds to compute a calc that would take me 10 minutes. LOL

Because most Tablets have voice recognition and recorder functions, as well. So, I can talk to the Tablet, then click to convert to text, or just attach the recording to the appraisal.

I have a friend who is a graphic artist and web designer. You should see the look on people's faces when she does a design for them right in front of their face. They're sold.

Have you bought one yet?

I used PDA for most of note taking during previous meetings. Nowadays I carry my 12" notebook at meetings running some Mind Management app for notes taking.

My little brother who is a doctor uses an HP tablet for a short period of time, then converted it back using his 14" Compaq. He found that the voice recording option, albeit nice, was a bit distracting when the patients corrected his "medical" interpretation of the diagnostic statement

Saying all that, tablets serve well in many business and educational environments. As in your post#3 above, they are very proprietary to use, recommendations can only be based on system specs and price - HP at the moment for me - and not on OS or functionality.

cheers ...